Hearing assistance devices include a variety of devices such as assistive listening devices, cochlear implants and hearing aids. Hearing aids are useful in improving the hearing and speech comprehension of people who have hearing loss by selectively amplifying certain frequencies according to the hearing loss of the subject. A hearing aid typically includes a microphone, an amplifier and a receiver (speaker). The microphone receives sound (acoustic signal) and converts it to an electrical signal and sends it to the amplifier. The amplifier increases the power of the signal, in proportion to the hearing loss, and then sends it to the ear through the receiver. Cochlear devices may employ electrodes to transmit sound to the patient.
Wireless communication technology such as Bluetooth provides hearing assistance devices with capability of wirelessly connecting to telephones, television sets, computers, music players, and other devices with audio output using a streaming device. Examples of wireless hearing assistance systems include wireless hearing aids and a streaming device that transmits sound from an audio source to the wireless hearing aids. Such wireless hearing aids when connected to streaming devices function like wireless headphones, which typically do not allow the wearers to locate the source of sound.
Under some circumstances, however, it is desirable for a user of a wireless hearing assistance device to identify and/or locate the source of the sound being heard. Wireless hearing aids worn by a patient suffering hearing loss is an example where the user (patient) may desire spaciousness for the sound being heard, such that the sound is heard as being from its source rather than occurring inside the user's ear.